The mighty magnitude 8.9 earthquake is the 7th most powerful tremor in world history (Figure 1), and the planet’s second top-ten earthquake in the past two years. The world’s 8th largest earthquake, a magnitude 8.8 event, hit Chile on February 27, 2010. Never before have two top-ten earthquakes hit so close together in time. Today’s quake was the strongest in Japanese history, and may end up being the most expensive natural disaster in world history, surpassing the $133+ billion dollar price tag from Hurricane Katrina.